Schools’ attitudes towards parents bringing advocates to meetings can probably best be summed up by quoting their document “Effective Schools Are Engaging Schools” where it discusses Student Support Group meetings.
‘Parents/carers may be accompanied and supported by an advocate at a student support group meeting. Parents/carers are required to organise the attendance of this advocate, who cannot act for a fee or reward. The role of the advocate is to provide emotional and moral support to the student and/or their parents/carers, and to act as a witness to the process of the student support group. The advocate should attend only as an observer, and should refrain from directing the process or answering questions on behalf of the student or their parents/carers. ‘(p24)
This stipulation:
- prevents any private professional advocate attending;
- forces reliance on advocacy organisations who are already often unable to attend due to underfunding of their own organisations; and
- prevents advocates from speaking and therefore representing the parent, which is the point of their attendance.
Attending meetings can be very stressful for parents. They report the following situations:
- attending meetings on their own with multiple staff members from the school;
- being spoken to by school staff in an inappropriate manner;
- having conversations in the meeting which are then denied by school staff and not included in the minutes.
For these reasons and more, it is important to bring an advocate with you when you attend meetings at your school. If you can’t locate an advocate, bring someone, even a family member or friend, in order that there is a witness to the proceedings of the meeting.
Please note that some school staff reject the Departmental policy above and do allow advocates to speak in meetings. This may be because they disagree with the policy, or that they have never read it. Therefore it is best to proceed on the basis that your advocate will be able to support you in a meaningful way. This is particularly important as some parents have disabilities themselves, or are extremely distressed about their child’s situation at school, and as a result might not feel confident in representing themselves at a meeting.